The Trials of Aphrodite: Righting the Wrongs

All is Fair in Love and . . . Wait, Just Love

The Trials of Aphrodite

♦ Chapter Twelve ♦

This was not how I planned to go.

A pair of Scythian dracanae had slithered up on us, taking us by surprise. We'd hitched a ride on Reyna's faithful pegasus, Guido, and we'd landed somewhere in Ontario, Canada. Guido was who-knows-where, probably updating his Facebook page. You won't believe how intelligent pegasi can be.

And now we were stuck fighting for our lives. I didn't have immortality at the moment. I could die.

But I'd acknowledged the risks when I'd accepted this quest. I'd prepared myself for the dangers.

No amount of preparation can brace you for death.

I was a lover, not a fighter, of course. I couldn't even lift a weapon in fear of breaking my fingernails.

The dracaena had the real deal: armor, shields, and swords. Hylla had taken a gash to the leg, and she was keeling over on the ground, seething. Reyna and I fought the two snake women one-on-one.

If you could call it a fight. Calling it a fight was generous.

I swung my spear, whamming it into the monster's gut. The snake woman hissed and recoiled, but I'd only detained her for so long. She brandished a sharp sword and charged at me, her reptilian scales glinting in the sunlight. I panicked and bolted in the opposite direction, but her blade found its mark. She stabbed me in the stomach.

I fell to my knees, pain washing over me like a wave. Agony exploded in my stomach, and I cried out.

Monster dust rained down on my head. Reyna had stabbed the dracanae, and it had disintegrated. Gone to Tartarus.

All I could think about while my insides felt like they were ripping apart was that the yellow remains would take a long time to rinse out of my hair.

"I'll never get this out of my hair," I said aloud.

Reyna shook her head. "You're slowly dying, and those are the last words you want engraved on your tombstone?" I realized she was crying.

I laughed weakly. "Perhaps death won't be too bad. The Fields of Asphodel are nice this time of year."

"You're not dying on me," Reyna said firmly.

"Says who?" I demanded, blood clotting on the wound. There was no way I'd survive.

"Says me."

Reyna gripped my hands tightly, closing her eyes in concentration.

"What are you . . . ?" I began.

I gasped, and my eyes flew open. My heart beat faster, and the same strength I'd gotten when I'd used charmspeak on the legion returned to me. I rose unsteadily, swaying on my feet.

I felt completely fine-better, even-despite the blood pooling at my feet.

"What the actual Hades?" I said, awestruck.

"One of my abilities," Reyna said, and her voice sounded strained. She looked simply exhausted. "I can lend others part of my strength."

"Are you kidding me?" I growled. "You could have given us all super strength at any time, but you choose now to tell me about it?"

"It drains me," she said. She sounded weak. "It renders me powerless. I won't be in shape to fight anytime soon."

"Oh." I felt terrible. "I'm grateful, then."